On the 15th of August 1947 my granny Annie Boyle from Loughanure died from leukemia aged just 45 years. Annie born in Mullaghduff was the eldest daughter of Paddy Johndy and Biddy Sharkey.

Annie Sharkey later Boyle in Great Yarmouth in the 1920s

She moved to Loughanure after her marriage to Dinny Boyle. Dinny and Annie got sick around the same time, Annie got leukemia and Dinny was struck down with tuberculosis. He was confined to bed for seven years. During this time, their five little children were cared for by their aunts and uncles.

Dinny and Annie and their children just before illness struck

Dinny feared that Annie wouldn’t make it and his children would be taken to Mullaghduff to be cared for by his wife’s family.

The eldest children say their last goodbyes to their mother Annie Copyright Jimmy Duffy

The following lament was written by Dinny where he expresses his fears that were to become a reality on an autumn day in ’47.